Toronto Addis Ababa Psychiatry Project

Toronto Addis Ababa Psychiatry Project

Started in 2003, the Toronto Addis Ababa Psychiatry Project (TAAPP) is an educational collaboration between the Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto and the Department of Psychiatry, Addis Ababa University, to build and sustain the first psychiatry residency program in Ethiopia. Together, psychiatrists from the University of Toronto and Addis Ababa University have trained 60 Ethiopian psychiatrists in-country bringing the number of psychiatrists in Ethiopia from 11 to 70 . There are now 5 departments of psychiatry outside the capital city of Addis Ababa, run by graduates of TAAPP. The mental health system has recently been integrated with the primary care system, improving access to services and necessitating mental health training for all levels of health care workers. Why train psychiatrists? Mental health is an integral and essential component of health, but for years the only psychiatry training available for Ethiopian doctors was overseas, and very few returned to practice. The initiation of an Ethiopian psychiatry training program has resulted in a 95% retention rate and the development and scaling up of services and training for all levels of health care professionals. As the experience of TAAPP demonstrates, positive changes multiply when the number of well trained committed specialists in Ethiopia increases. TAAPP continues to operate two one-month teaching trips a year to Addis Ababa, each outgoing teaching group consists of two faculty and a senior resident. TAAPP has become the preferred model of western assistance by Addis Ababa University and is now just one program in a broader educational collaboration called TAAAC (Toronto Addis Ababa Academic Collaboration) which started in 2008 and currently involves over 20 similar partnerships in 6 faculties at the University of Toronto.

TAAPP Volunteer faculty wanted!

Since TAAPP began there have been 33 educational trips to Addis Ababa University. Formal teaching takes place on 2-3 afternoons a week – the rest of the week is spent supervising residents in their clinics, and on the wards. At weekends there is a chance to travel and see some of the historical sites of Ethiopia. Teaching months are organized in the spring (March/April) and once in the fall (October) to miss the long summer rainy season.

Returnee faculty and residents give the experience high ratings. They enjoy the month in Addis and many have been back for a second or third trip! Please consider volunteering for a month.

Your return ticket is paid for, as well as accommodation and transportation to and from the work site in Addis. Accompanying spouses/partners are welcome. Please email or Clare Pain at clare.pain@siniahealthsystem.ca 416-586-4800 x8890. Or Marci Rose at marci.rose@uhn.ca